Elementary School

by Ellen Larson Vaughan, Steven Winter Associates, Inc.

Last updated: 04-21-2008

Overview

Elementary School buildings are the setting for the first four to eight years of a child's formal education, a period of structured schooling that is compulsory in most countries. In the United States, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), first enacted in 1965 and recently reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act, is the principal federal law that affects kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) education. Elementary school usually begins for children aged four to seven (four if the school includes kindergarten, which is a program for children four to six years of age that serves as an introduction to school). Other terms used to describe this initial stage of education are "primary", "grade" and "grammar" school. This Building Type page defines elementary school as grades K-8.

More than other building types, school facilities have a profound impact on their occupants and the functions of the building, namely teaching and learning. Children in various stages of development are stimulated by light, color, the scale of their surroundings, even the navigational aspects of their school. Children can also react negatively to adverse conditions.

Building Attributes

Elementary schools can be designed in a variety of sizes, configurations, and layouts depending on the school district and the program. It is fairly common for grades seven and eight—sometimes six, seven and eight—to be housed in separate facilities as "middle schools." Middle schools pose special challenges to designers. Students at this pre-adolescent age are becoming more independent, experimental, and temperamental. They have transitioned from primary school, where instruction occurs for the most part in one classroom with one teacher, and are learning to follow schedules and find their way to different parts of the building. The physical organization of the school needs to provide easy navigation that builds confidence without sacrificing safety and security. Middle schools also require space for lockers, science labs, art studios, industrial arts, choral and band, and other programs. Media centers, often as large as 4,000 to 5,000 square feet, are more sophisticated and frequently used in middle schools. Middle school teachers value cross-disciplinary team teaching, which typically requires spacious, flexible facilities. For these reasons, and to separate young children from older students, primary and middle school spaces must be delineated.

Regardless of the school's configuration, children need a healthful and stimulating environment in which to learn. Elementary schools should be comfortable visually, acoustically, and thermally; they should have excellent indoor air quality; and they should be safe and secure. These buildings should also be also good environmental citizens as they are teaching tools in and of themselves. Community leaders, parents, and educators value schools that have a strong connection to the community. And finally, elementary schools need to be cost effective in order to maximize limited funding and provide the best learning environments possible for the budget.

A. Types of Spaces

Fundamental space types for elementary schools include, but are not limited to:

• Administrative Offices
• Art facility
• Cafeteria—In elementary schools, the cafeteria often doubles as the auditorium, aka "cafetorium."
• Classroom—Daylighting is most important in classrooms, where most teaching and learning occurs.
• Common areas/courtyards
• Gymnasium
• Health Services
• Lobby—Schools often showcase team trophies in the foyer or feature a colorful display at child's eye level.
• Media Center—Schools are changing traditional libraries into media centers, adapting to new technology, as well as to other issues such as comfort, flexibility and maximum use of space.
• Multipurpose Rooms
• Music Education
• Restrooms
• Science Facility

B. Important Design Considerations

Accessibility

• Design spaces to meet the specific needs of students and teachers with disabilities. See Americans with Disabilities Act. Refer to ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
• The United States Access Board, which supports ADA implementation, recognizes that poor acoustics also have a negative impact on hearing-impaired students. ANSI/ASA Standard S12.60-2002, Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Requirements and Guidelines for Schools, specifies acoustical performance criteria for learning spaces.
• Design for future flexibility, which enables spaces to be easily modified.

See also:

• ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Play Areas
• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities
• WBDG "Plan for Flexibility: Be Proactive"

Aesthetics

The importance of the physical appearance of a public school should not be minimized. A school building that is attractive and responds to and is consistent with the design and context of the neighborhood, builds a sense of pride and ownership among students, teachers, and the community. The exterior should complement the neighborhood and reflect the community's values. The interior should enhance the learning process.

• Bring the community into the planning process through an integrated design process.
• Provide an interior environment that is visually comfortable and stimulating by integrating natural and artificial lighting, eliminating glare, and incorporating colors that stimulate or soothe, depending on the space function.
• Design for diffuse, uniform daylight throughout classrooms.
• Avoid direct-beam sunlight.
• Use a daylighting analysis tool to integrate lighting systems, controls, and materials that reflect or absorb light.

Cost-Effective

School districts typically separate their capital and operating budgets and therefore have little incentive to factor in the long-term cost of a building when making decisions about its design and construction. However, to reduce the total cost of owning a building while ensuring its quality, it is necessary to balance the initial design and construction costs with the cost of lighting, heating, cooling, repairing, and otherwise operating and maintaining the facility.

• Select building elements on the basis of life-cycle cost analysis—Mirror the lifespan of projects and systems with the expected lifespan of the facility.
• Consider the recyclability of materials.
• Specify materials and products that are easy to maintain (balance this with their impact on children's health and the environment).
• Utilize life-cycle cost analysis tools.
• Commission the facility to ensure that it operates in a manner consistent with design intent.
• Use energy simulation and analysis tools to optimize energy performance (integrate daylighting systems, high-performance HVAC, energy-efficient building shell, and high-performance electric lighting)

Functional

To foster students' sense of community and individuality:

• Cluster classrooms around common areas.
• Connect spaces visually with colors and patterns, particularly for primary school children.
• Provide platform spaces for gathering, sitting, and presenting and alcoves for quiet play, reflection, and reading.
• Consider Educational Commissioning™ where all occupants are educated on the intent of the design elements and know how to use the facility optimally for teaching and learning. This can be a basic process for elementary schools, with increasing levels of sophistication for higher grades.
• Decentralize administrative spaces to encourage active leadership and maximize interaction with students.
• Provide a "home base" for each student and teacher.

To ensure flexibility and adaptability for changing programs and enrollments:

• Use operable walls to increase the efficiency of large, multi-purpose spaces, such as the cafeteria and gymnasium.
• Accommodate technology upgrades.
• Allow classrooms to change with the activity and group size. This is particularly important in primary schools, where students typically stay in one room with one teacher throughout much of the day.

Historic Preservation

Historic school buildings—those that are 50 years of age or older—were typically the centers of their communities and were designed to optimize natural ventilation and daylighting. Communities should study the history of their schools and become involved in the planning of new schools in order to make wise decisions regarding renovation versus new construction. All of the pros and cons of renovating an old school should be weighed, such as:

• Structural integrity
• Community access
• Building orientation—solar access
• Daylighting opportunities (i.e., large windows) and possible barriers (multi-story buildings)
• Other features that enhance or hinder visual/thermal/acoustic comfort
• Potential to upgrade for energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety and security, and technology
• Aesthetics
• Community landmark; historic significance
• Proximity to residential neighborhoods (potential for walking/bicycling to school)
• Site disturbance

For information about preserving, rehabilitating, restoring, or reconstruction historic buildings see WBDG Historic Preservation Branch.

Productive

Elementary schools should enhance the health and productivity of students, teachers, and staff.

• Make daylighting a priority, especially in classrooms. See U.S. DOE Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools (PDF 3.26 MB). Daylighting is the controlled admission of natural light into a space. Glare and hot spots can undermine the learning process. Studies show a positive correlation between daylighting and student performance.
• Integrate daylighting with high-efficient electric lighting and controls to optimize visual comfort.
• Use natural ventilation when possible. (This and daylighting also provides a connection to the outdoors.)
• Ensure acoustical comfort. Poor classroom acoustics are more than merely annoying. If young children are unable to hear their teacher, they usually are unable to "fill in the blanks" as adults with life experience are able to do, and this can disrupt learning. Chronic exposure to noise has been shown to be harmful to children.
• Ensure superior indoor air quality. Children typically are more sensitive to indoor air pollutants than adults and more likely to suffer ill effects such as allergies and asthma. See U.S. EPA Healthy School Environment Resources. Consider displacement ventilation systems.
• Ensure thermal comfort. "Right size" HVAC systems to keep humidity in the comfort zone. Give teachers control over the temperature of individual classrooms.
• Embrace the concept of the building as a teaching tool (aka a 3-D textbook or living lab)
• Connect the indoor environment to the outdoors by providing operable view windows in classrooms and easy access from classrooms to gardens and other outdoor areas that can be utilized in the curriculum.

Secure / Safe

• Maximize visual access to corridors and school grounds.
• Increase occupants' sense of ownership and "territoriality" by providing comfortable, not institutional, rooms and by clearly defining the school boundaries.
• Control access to the building and grounds by individuals and vehicles.
• Use durable, non-toxic building materials.
• Provide shelter in cases of emergency. See FEMA 428—Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks and FEMA Safe Rooms and Community Shelters Case Studies.
• Accommodate safe egress from the building in case of emergency.

Sustainable

• Use energy, water, and other resources efficiently.
• Integrate renewable energy strategies, including passive solar design and, where appropriate, solar thermal and photovoltaics.
• Integrate high-performance mechanical and lighting systems.
• Conserve and protect natural areas. Provide barriers that protect children and plants and wildlife.
• Incorporate materials and products derived from sustainable-yield processes and/or are manufactured locally.
• Provide opportunities for safe walking and bicycling to school.

Emerging Issues

Demand is on the rise for schools that feature high-performance design and technologies to enhance learning, support community use, and function well during natural and manmade disasters. At the same time, resources for school planning, design, construction, and operation are constrained. The challenge is to build high quality schools efficiently. Community shared spaces and life-cycle cost analysis are two ways that designers are meeting this challenge.

Scientists, planners, design professionals, public officials, school administrators, parents, teachers, and students are informing the current dialogue about optimal school design:

• Scientists who study the "neuroscience of learning" are finding that certain lighting, acoustics, and spatial relationships support or hinder the learning process.
• Planners and designers are involving community stakeholders in their design decisions and spurring the development of joint-use facilities that are centers of the community.
• Concerns about safety and security (within the school and within the community) are more acute than ever, prompting innovative thinking about design strategies that minimize the impact of natural and manmade hazards. Schools with back-up, off-grid, renewable power systems can double as emergency shelters. See NREL Solar Secure Schools: Strategies and Guidelines (PDF 696 KB).
• State and local officials are recognizing that school facilities—the physical buildings—are important to their programmatic success. Several states have established new design guidelines and requirements for "high performance" schools whose features promote student/teacher health and productivity, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability.
• School administrators, parents, teachers, and students are focused on meeting new testing standards, which calls for an enhanced learning environment with appropriate technology and comfort control systems.
• School districts are serving communities that are increasingly multi-cultural and multi-lingual.

Relevant Codes and Standards

Organizations

• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)—Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and managed by the National Institute of Building Sciences, NCEF is the world's largest repository of information about Pre-K to 12 school planning, designing, funding, building, improvement, and maintenance.

Federal Government

• 36 CFR Part 1191, ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities; Play Areas; Final Rule (PDF 396 KB), August 18, 2000.
• ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Building Elements Designed for Children's Use
• A Guide to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Play Areas
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) lists designated products that federal agencies are required to purchase. Two specific product categories apply to the development of play yards: Park and Recreation Equipment and Playground Surfacing.
• U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR for K-12 School Districts

Department of Defense

• 10 U.S.C. 2164. Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools
• Department of Defense:
• UFC 3-210-04 Children's Outdoor Play Areas
• UFC 4-740-14 Design: Child Development Centers
• UFGS 11 68 13 Playground Equipment
• UFGS 32 18 16.13 Playground Protective Surfacing

State Resources

• California—Division of the State Architect—Incentives for Sustainable Schools
• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative—Green Schools Initiative
• New Jersey—Schools Development Authority

Private Sector

• ANSI/ASA Standard S12.60-2002, Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Requirements and Guidelines for Schools by Acoustical Society of America
• ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2004, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
• ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62-2001, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
• ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
• ASTM F-355, Shock Absorbing Properties of Playing Surface Systems and Materials
• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth to Age Eight
• Handbook for Public Playground Safety (PDF 1 MB)
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Major Resources

WBDG

Building / Space Types

Youth Centers, Educational Facilities, Child Care, Clinic / Health Unit, Conference / Classroom, Office

Design Objectives

Functional / Operational, Productive, Secure / Safe, Sustainable

Project Management

Building Commissioning

Federal Agencies

• Department of Defense Schools
• A Study of Schools Serving Military Families in the U.S. (PDF 2.66 MB)
• Statement of the National Military Family Association
• Department of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs/Office of Indian Education Programs—The OIEP Division of School Operations and Support Services administers the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) programs to ensure that school faculties function to serve the daily needs of American Indian children and adults. The Division also provides support to Education Line officers who serve as the grants officers for construction grants administered under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-297).
• Federal Emergency Management Administration
• FEMA 424 Design Guide for School Safety Against Earthquakes, Floods, and High Winds
• FEMA 428 Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks
• FEMA 453 Design Guidance for Shelters and Safe Rooms
• U.S. Department of Education
• U.S. Department of Energy
• Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools (PDF 3.26 MB)
• National Best Practices Manual for Building High Performance Schools (PDF 8.84 MB)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Energy Star for K-12 School Districts
• Healthy School Environments

Private Sector

• AIA Committee on Architecture for Education
• Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)—Resources for high performance school design, construction, operations, and maintenance.
• Council of Educational Facility Planners International
• DesignShare
• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF)
• National Summit on School Design—organized by American Architectural Foundation and KnowledgeWorks Foundation
• Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC)—Resources for high-performance school building design and procurement.
• U.S. Green Building Council—LEED-NC for K-12 Schools Application Guide (in development)—modifies LEED for New Construction in recognition that schools have unique characteristics and needs.

Publications

• Building Type Basics for Elementary and Secondary Schools by Bradford Perkins. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001.
• Daylighting in Schools by Heschong Mahone Group, Pacific Gas & Electric, 1999.
• High-Performance School Buildings Resource and Strategy Guide by Deane Evans, FAIA, and the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council. Washington, DC: SBIC, 2001 and 2004.
• National Best Practices Manual for Building High Performance Schools (PDF 8.84 MB) by U.S. Department of Energy and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2007.
• Review and Assessment of the Health and Productivity Benefits of Green Schools: An Interim Report by National Academies Press. 2006.
• Schools as Centers of Community; A Citizen's Guide for Planning and Design by National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Building Educational Success Together, Council of Educational Facility Planners International, Coalition for Community Schools. Washington, DC: 2003.

Training

• Collaborative for High Performance Schools
• High-Performance School Buildings Information and Training Center, sponsored by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
• High-Performance School Buildings Workshop, offered by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council
• High Performance School Design Online Training, sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

Points of Contact

• Judy Marks, Hon. AIA, Associate Director, National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF at National Institute of Building Sciences), 1090 Vermont Avenue, NW, #700, Washington, DC 20005; Phone: 202-289-7800; Email: jmarks@nibs.org